The Blurred Self(-ie)

Because we have been saved, redeemed by Christ, He has given us a new heart, and He calls us to think with a new mind, to consider His thoughts, and to think and behave in a manner consistent with who He says that we are.  In Colossians 3, we gain some insight into what that looks like:
12Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;13bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.14But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
This applies to each of us in a powerful way.  We are chosen by Him for a relationship with Almighty God through His Son, Jesus.  We are called "holy" and "beloved."  And, because Jesus lives in us, we can display His character, radiating a sense of mercy and love, with an attitude of humility before God.  We have been given the peace of God, which is a component of the life to which He has called us.  He desires for us to activate these incredible qualities and have a clear picture of who He desires for us to be.
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We are called to walk in righteousness and truth in Jesus, and allow Him to show us who we really are in Him - that we are in right standing with God, redeemed by Him, with a new nature and a new identity.  Ephesians 4 encourages us:
21if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:22that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,23and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,24and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

It is certainly one of the common uses of the smartphone camera - once you master the technique, you get the opportunity to capture a moment of your life without asking for assistance. Yes, it is that phenomenon known as the "selfie." I'm admittedly still working on mastering the technique. Not that it's a skill that has an overabundance of use for me. According to a study, only 3-5 percent of hundreds of thousands of photos that were analyzed, from 5 cities throughout the world, actually turned out to be selfies. Significantly more women than men participate.

Lev Manovich, a computer science professor at The Graduate Center, CUNY, said, "I’m still surprised the number is so low." After all, there are 79 million photos on Instagram that are labeled as #selfie.

But, there is now a trend to kind of "unselfie" the selfie.  It's been brought out on a Yahoo! tech piece. by columnist Rob Walker.  There's a recently released photography app called SLMMSK that has been described as an explicitly “anti-selfie” tool. Unlike Instagram, SLMMSK’s “filters” don’t enhance the photo; rather, they are all intended to obscure the image: through extreme pixelation, by replacing it with a ridiculous emoji, or with other options in between.

Walker writes:

For many artists, developers, and tinkerers, we have entered the age of the post-selfie selfie.

Yes, the post-selfie selfie: a self-portrait that somehow plays with, jokes about, undermines, or contradicts the usual purpose of the selfie.

He points out there is a whole Tumbler site devoted to so-called "glitch selfies," which involve self-portrait-makers blotting out or mangling their images with various technical effects.

With Gush, you can turn your face into a glitch image at the click of a button. Another app, Matter, is designed to let people insert digital images into photos.

And there are selfies that completely eliminate the image of the person, constructing images based on personal data.

I began to think about the concept of a clear picture with regard to our personal identity.  A selfie, or self-photo can be used to show ourselves in moments that are important to us, and I think an accurate picture of ourselves is so important in our spiritual life.   We have to make sure that our true identity in Christ is not blurred or overshadowed by our attempts to be someone whom we are not.  Authenticity and vulnerability are two characteristics that can be helpful to us as we attempt to radiate the life of Christ in us.

There are ways that we distort the image of the Lord through our lives.  Quite simply, when we display sinful activity, we are not relating the character of Christ.  Anger, worry, a lack of concern for others - these are all types of sinful behavior that do not allow the true, compelling nature of Christ to shine through.

We lessen our impact by not yielding to the Spirit as He desires to express His fruit through us.  If we are overcome by the cares of this world to the extent that we are not experiencing the joy or peace of the Lord, then we are blurring the image of Christ in us.

We also diminish the image, or identity, of Christ in us when we don't recognize who He has made us to be.  If we persist in viewing ourselves as less than the people whom Christ has made us to be through His redemption, then we will act in a manner consistent with that false self-portrait we have of ourselves.   So, it's important that we study God's Word and allow Him to shape us in a manner that lines up with the new creation that He says that we are.  We have been re-created in His image, He works in our hearts, and He desires to display His character through us.